Two Ingredients Chocolate Peanut Butter & Banana Ice Cream

I am big fan of anything peanut butter so while making the one ingredient banana ice cream I saved some for this delicious chocolate peanut butter ice cream. Guilt free, dairy free and vegan, this is the easiest breakfast dessert you can make. I used an organic chocolate PB but you can use a normal Homemade PB and chocolate chips too. Here is my recipe for Homemade PB

 

Ingredients : 

• Frozen sliced ripe bananas – 4 medium size
• Organic peanut chocolate butter – 3 tablespoon
• Topping – Honey coated Popped amaranth/ Multi-grain Muesli

Steps :

1. Cut and freeze bananas overnight. Make smaller pieces if your blender/processor is not heavy duty.
2. In a jar place frozen bananas and blend till it gets to creamy aoft swirl consistency. It will take time to achieve this so be patient.
3. If you find the blending hard then add a small non frozen ripe banana to the mix. It will help in smoothing the process.
4. Keep scraping the sides to ensure the fruit blends evenly.
5. Once the bananas come to a soft creamy ice cream consistency add the peanut butter. I used organic chocolate flavored but you can use chuny/ smooth plain, any kind.
6. Blend again till the PB gets incorporated and the mixture is airy and creamy.
7. You can serve this as a soft serve ice cream topped with buts or your favorite topping or spoon it in a freeze safe container and freeze for a few hours for a firmer texture.
8. Once you achieve a firm ice cream , scoop it in cones or ice cream bowls and top with muesli/ popped amaranth/ chocolate shavings/ nut butter/ cinnamon powder/ chopped nuts/ roasted broken peanuts or any other thing you crave for.

My Tip:Always use ripe banana. Add at least one overripe banana for that sweetness and creamy texture. The fruit should have brown spots on the skin. Use any peanut butter. It won’t make any difference to the ice cream. Prefer Homemade or organic.

 

Healthy One-Ingredient Banana Ice Cream

I stumbled upon this one ingredient ice cream while making the Yogurt smoothies. I usually freeze the fruits in zip lock bags and realized that this could be eaten as a fruit based ice cream too. I wonder if ice cream is a right word for this dessert but WTH, it is amazingly delicious. 100 % natural frozen banana ice cream is a perfect Paleo, Vegan, zero dairy, zero added sweetener alternative. Rich and creamy this is a marvelous guilt free treat. Add your favorite toppings or mix-in to make it more healthy and tasty. Later I found that internet is buzzing with the various one ingredient ice creams including the one made from bananas.  So the idea isn’t original.

Ingredients : 

• Ripe Bananas – 6 large (Sliced & Frozen)
• Desired Topping -Honey / Peanut Butter / Molasses /Walnuts /Raisins/Nuts/Spices

Steps : 

1. Choose Bananas with brown spots. The riper they are the creamier and sweeter your ice cream will be.
2. Slice them into coins or 1 inch pieces if your processor is strong.
3. Put them in a zip lock bag or airtight freezer safe container and freeze till completely frozen. Preferably overnight.
4. To make the one ingredient ice cream take out the frozen bananas and put them in the blender jar. If your processor is not strong add one non frozen banana for smooth blending.
5. Pulse the frozen bananas till they turn crumbly. Keep blending to break them down completely.
6. Scrap the sides of the jar with a spatula and keep blending. you will get a goey mixture in some time.
7. Have patience and blend till you see the blended bananas turn into creamy rich soft serve like texture. Keep scraping the jar so there are no pieces.
8. Give a few more rounds of blending to incorporate some air in the mixture. This will make the ice cream smoother and thicker.
9. Once done, you can eat this fabulous creamy ice cream as a soft serve immediately or scoop it out in an airtight freezer safe container to make it more firmer like the traditional ice cream.
10. After 2-3 hours of freezing scoop out the delicious creamy ice cream in bowls and serve with your favorite toppings. I used honey and peanut butter,
11. Enjoy this guilt free ice cream any time the craving strikes.

My Tip:1. Use very ripe bananas or at least those which have some brown spots. They don’t look good but give a perfect sweet smooth ice cream. 2. Toppings are endless for this rich ice cream. Be creative. 3. You can add flavors of your choice to the basic ice cream and make it 2-3 ingredient ice cream if you wish. Add fruits, nut butters, condense milk, coconut cream, soy milk or anything that fancies you. I love it as it is.

Wordless Wednesday – 314

Wordless Wednesday – 313

Punjabi Kathal Masala | Punjabi Jackfruit Vegetable

Popularly known as “vegetarian’s meat’, this fibrous, starchy and fleshy fruit is one of my favorites.  From tender ones to the absolutely ripe ones Jackfruit is used in variety of dishes from sweet to savory. Even the juice of ripe jackfruit is dried and used to make dishes like fansache sandane.  It is even pickled and the kathal ka achar is one of the best things on earth. I had kathal ki biryani at a friend’s place and it tasted just like the mutton biryani though the hardcore non vegetarian would never call it a biryani for Biryani means rice and Meat. 🙂 Nothing can substitute it. Kathal is one of the many things especially cooked on Holi in UP.

Although in my house only tender baby kathal or slightly more matured one was used for vegetable or kababs I learned to cook the more mature fibrous one from my MIL. It was cooked mostly like meat. The recipe used all the spices used to cook meat. It was cooked on slow fire and given dum. ( the dum pic got deleted accidentally but I will upload it later)

I did variations whenever possible to make the best use of the meaty fruit. Achari kathal being one of them which is cooked exactly like murg achari.

I neither use very tender baby jackfruit nor the very fibrous mature one for this subzi. The jackfruit seeds, that look like chestnuts, should not be very tough to chew. I never liked their plastic like covering.

Note – Get the jackfruit peeled and cut by the vegetable vendor or apply some oil and use a sharp knife to cut. It secretes a sticky resin and things can get very messy if not done properly.

 

Ingredients – 

Green unripe kathal/jakfruit – 1/2 kg

Onion – 2 large

Potatoes – 2 medium size ( optional)

Tomatoes – 5-6 medium size

Ginger – 1 inch ( grated)

Garlic – 7-8 cloves ( grated)

Green chilies – 2-3 ( slit)

Red chili powder – 1/2 teaspoon

Coriander Powder – 2 tablespoon

Turmeric / Haldi Powder – 1/2 teaspoon

Home made Garam Masala – 1/4 teaspoon

Amchur/ mango powder – 1/4 teaspoon

Asafoetida – 2 pinches

Cumin Seeds – 1/2 teaspoon

Salt – to taste

Mustard Oil for frying

Water – 1 cup

Chopped green coriander leaves – for garnish

Steps- 

1. Peel and cut the kathal into 1 1/2 – 2 inch pieces. Make a cut in the seeds if there are large ones or they will burst while frying or slice them if they are not too stubborn). (Be careful with that) Wash and keep aside.
2. Peel and cut potatoes ( if using) and place them in water.
3. Heat Mustard oil in a kadhai  and bring it to smoking point, Keep the flame to medium now. ( Mustard oil gives the subzi a unique taste but you may use some other also)
4. Deep fry the kathal pieces in small batches till they are golden brown but not darker than that. Fry the potatoes too.
5. Drain the fried jackfruit and potatoes on to a kitchen towel or paper to remove excess oil.
6. Chop the onions fine.
7. Grate the tomatoes into a puree.
8. Remove excess oil fro mthe kadhayi and keep about two tablespoon for making the masala for the sabzi.
9. Add cumin seeds and when they splutter add hing/asafoetida.
10. Add chopped onions and green chili.
11. Fry till golden brown. ( Add a little salt to help in browning)
12. Add ginger and garlic and fry them along with the onions.
13. Add red chili and a little water to give that rich brown color to the masala.
14. Let the mixture cook for a minute and then add  the grounded masalas and the remaining salt.
15.  stir properly and fry till the oil separates. Keep flame low.
16. Move the onion mix to a side of kadhayi and add tomato puree.
17. Stir everything well and let it cook under cover for sometime. ( 5-10 min)
18. Open the lid and add some of the chopped green coriander leaves. This gives the masala a very nice flavor.
19.  keep stirring the masala till the water from tomatoes dries out and the masala starts to leave oil. It will become smooth in texture by now.
20. Add kathal and potato pieces to the masala  and mix well so that the masala gets incorporated in each piece. Add a little water to help in the process.
21.  cook it on medium high flame , stirring continuously so the vegetable pieces soak up all the fragrant masala.
22. Add more water to make a thick gravy and cover to cook on slow flame.
23. Keep checking for the pieces to become tender.
24. The time depends on the quality of kathal. ( Took 45 mins)
25. Once the pieces have become tender check for the salt and spices. Add more if required.
26. The kathal masala can be a thick moist vegetable coated with the masala but dry or you can add some water to make it into a curry. Keep it as thick or thin as you wish.
27. If you want to dum the vegetable then cover with lid and seal the lid with wheat flour dough so that the steam doesn’t escape.
28. Let it cook for 10-15 minutes on very low heat then turn off the heat and carefully remove the seal.
29. Spoon the aromatic punjabi kathal masala vegetable in a serving dish and garnish with the remaining green coriander leaves.
30. Eat with layered paratha, phulka or rice.
31. Serve some cooling raita, pickled carrots and sliced onions.

Tip – If you do not wish to fry the kathal and potatoes you can make this recipe with steamed or raw pieces also.

This is a slow cook recipe and a labor of love. Follow the steps and you will have a sumptuous vegetable.

My garam masala has nutmeg, cinnamon, bayleaf, javitri, big black cardamom, green cardamom, dry ginger, cumin, coriander etc. so I do not add khada masala or whole spices.

Some people  add two three tablespoons of thick curd in the masala instead of amchur/mango powder. I make dahiwala kathal as a separate dish.

Enjoy this delicious meaty vegetable while the fruit is still in season.

 

 

 

 

Wordless Wednesday – 312